呜呼哀哉

嗚呼哀哉

wūhū'āizāi

idiom

Meanings

1 alas!
2 all is lost
3 (facetiously) done for, finished, kicked the bucket

Characters

(interjection of sighing)

to exhale, to call out

(classical exclamatory particle)

Examples

他这次创业失败了，多年的积蓄呜呼哀哉。

Tā zhè cì chuàngyè shībài le, duō nián de jīxù wūhū āi zāi.

His startup failed this time, and his years of savings — all gone.

祭文最后写道：呜呼哀哉，尚飨。

Jìwén zuìhòu xiě dào: wūhū āi zāi, shàng xiǎng.

The eulogy ends with: 'Alas! May the spirit accept this offering.'

Tips

history

The phrase comes from classical funerary writing — 呜呼 (wūhū) is a sigh, 哀哉 (āizāi) literally 'how sad!'. Together they're the conventional sign-off of formal eulogies (祭文) since the Han dynasty. In 《诗经·大雅·召旻》 already: '於乎哀哉.' Modern speakers borrow it half-jokingly to mean 'and that was the end of that.'

register

In serious context: solemn, funeral register. In everyday speech: ironic, comic — 'his diet plan went 呜呼哀哉 the moment he walked past the bakery.' Tone of voice carries the meaning.

Stroke Order

呜 wū

呼 hū

哀 āi

哉 zāi